Today I am going to share with you the secret to forming a “dream team” of peers, which has the strength, resilience, and transcendent vision to face the great challenges that current times imply.
Starting today, realize that your team is no longer just your formal team, meaning the people who report to you, but rather everyone who can influence the success of your project, career, or productivity.
Let me give you an example. Suppose you are the Commercial Director of a major corporation. Undoubtedly, your direct reports are part of the success equation. But now ask yourself, what are the other critical success factors that influence sales, not just to close them, but for them to thrive?
Visualize everything that needs to happen before and after the sale for it to materialize.
Before the sale is everything related to the design and production of the product or service. And after, there is the legal process of contracting, the delivery and/or implementation logistics, and billing. Each and every one of them are critical elements for success in order to finalize the sale and generate commission.
So, the secret to leadership in the 21st century is to visualize each person as responsible for each of the critical success factors for the successful outcome of the project or function, and to build human bridges of trust with them to generate collaboration, co-creation, and shared co-growth that will lead to lasting success.
Where to begin
Shift the paradigm in your mind of what it means to be an employee. From this day forward, your employer becomes your best client. And you assume the role of CEO of your life and destiny. That means you will do everything in your power to ensure your client's success. And if something isn't working, you will fix it. Zero excuses. Total commitment.
So, start by analyzing all the links in the value chain that influence commercial supply. And imagine that the owner of each link now forms your new management team. Forget the old hierarchy system where power was granted from the top. Free yourself from the archaic dynamics that fostered feuds, internal competition; or rather, internal incompetence, along with the frustration, errors, and discord that accompanied it.
The new leadership, as explained by Keith Ferrazzi in his book «Leading Without Authority,» is about changing the paradigm and turning everyone who influences the results the business requires into our leadership team.
Now, with a CEO's attitude, think about all the bottlenecks that hinder the ability to deliver an excellent product or service.
And your first job is to approach the owners of those links and build a relationship of rapport, empathy, and friendship.
Choose one, the most relevant. That bottleneck that if you manage to solve, will boost your results like never before.
For now, forget the business, the process, the bottleneck. Your priority right now is to build a human connection.
Stop by this person's office and say hello. Acknowledge something they do that you can genuinely admire, and tell them so. Show interest in them.
Now, after a few casual approaches, ask her out to eat. And during the meal, show vulnerability. Talk about your interests, challenges, and worries. Don't force the relationship; let the other person open up at their own pace. And when they speak, listen, truly listen with interest, solidarity, and compassion.
Little by little, the relationship will be forged. And once, and only once, there is trust based on vulnerability, allow yourself to talk about business and understand their problems, and for them to understand yours.
From here, the magic of deeper understanding will emerge, and the door will open for collaboration and co-creation, through mutual co-growth, leading to true complicity and a joint pursuit of success. And from that moment on, what represented your biggest challenge and bottleneck in achieving your results will become the new member of your management team, working alongside you to take the business to the next level together.
And now that you have integrated the first critical link to success into your management team, go for the second and third, until you form the unstoppable “dream team” of friends committed to growth that will have the strength, resilience, and transcendent vision to face together the great challenges of current times.
In summary
21st-century leadership is about leaving behind the archaic concept of an employee and taking full responsibility for our lives and results. It's no longer about waiting to be assigned power, but about empowering ourselves to approach our peers and build the human relationships that allow us to solve any problem.
In this new world, everything is about collaboration and co-creation that leads to co-growth among colleagues. And the secret to success for the new leader is about building human bridges downwards, sideways, and upwards, which allows for achieving goals in a more effective, enjoyable, and transcendent way.
So, starting today, embrace your greatness and transform into the most inclusive and influential leader in the organization. As the brilliant writer of the last century, Ayn Rand, said, “The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.” Go forward.
Have a great day.